Railroad-switch



(No Model.)

A. R. MILLIKEN.

2 Sheets-Sheet; 1.

RAILROAD SWITGH.

Patented June 25, 1895.

WI mlnlnllallnlmllllmlllllnll" (No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

A. R. MILLIKEN. RAIE'ROAD SWITCH.

No. 541,667. Patented June 25, 1895.

IIIIIIII I III/I III/I I 1 UNITED STATES;

P NT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER R. MILLIKEN, OF NEWARK, NEW JERSEY.

RAILROAD-SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 541,667, dated June 25,1895.

I Application filed August 22,1894 gerial No. 520,989. (No model-l Toall whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, ALEXAND R'R. MILLI- KEN,a citizen of the UnitedStates,and a resi dent of Newark, in the county of Essex and State ofNew Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailroad-- Switches, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to certain new and useful improvements in automaticswitches and switch plates particularly designed for electric railways,the objects being, first, the production of a switch of simple and inexpensive construction, reliable and efficient'in operation, and adaptedto be automatically opened and closed, or shifted from one position tothe other,by the force of a moving car; secondly, the production of aswitch plate, (and dirt receiver arranged below the plate) speciallydesigned for use with my automatic switch, to facilitate the easymovement, or shifting thereof, and also adapted to prevent the switchfrom being clogged, or its free movement retarded, by dirt, stones, ice,

snow, &c.

WVith these several objects in view my invention consists in thefeatures of improvement hereinafter fully described and pointed out inthe claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, illustrating my invention, inthe several features of which like parts are similarly designated,Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of two sections of a railway-track, eachprovided with a switch and switch-plate embodying my improvements,showing the switch closed in each case. Fig. 2 is a diagrammatic view ofa single section provided with the same switch and plate and showing theswitch open. Fig. 3 is an end view of a car-truck provided with aprojection to operate the switch. Fig. et'is-a top plan view of myimproved switch-plate; Fig. 5, a vertical section thereof, and Fig. 6 across-section thereof.

A, A represent the main tracks of a railroad, and B, B, branch tracks.

D, is the switch-rail pivoted at E, and resting upon the switch plate F.A short distance from the switch rail D, a tie or platform G, issuitably secured in place, and one edge of this tie is beveled so as toform an incline on the face of the tie adjacent to the switch-rail D, asshown, and upon the upper edge of thisinclineaswilch lever H,'iscentrally pivoted,thisi lever being provided at its curved or cam-shapedends, with upwardly extending projectionsl, J. This switch lever isconnected to the switch-rail D, by means of the rods K, L, and bellcrank, M, the rod K, extending from the outer arm of the bell crank tothe opposite end of the switch lever so as to exert sufficient leverageto move or shift the switch rail, when force is applied to move theswitch -lever, as hereinafter described.

The cars employed on a road using my improved switch will be providedwith a suitable projection or arm N; (as shown particularly in Fig. 3)located at some part'of thecar infront of the trucks. This projection N,may be either a fixed or a movable projection. When fixed it will belocated on the car-body with reference to the projection of theswitch-lever it is intended to engage, and

.willproject downwardly slightly below the When movable it may besnptrack level. ported in a variety of ways, none of which 3 are shownin the drawings as they are all well known mechanical devices. Forinstance one ,form may consist of a rod extending through thecar-platform and within easy reach of the driver,'and this rod may bespring-controlled, or provided at its lower end with a rack-bar,

so that it can be readily adjustable to different vertical positions.Instead of this construction a series of projections may he employedlocated at different points on the car body, and of different lengths,for purposes which will presently be described.

The operation is as follows: A car moving.

in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, will follow the main tracks A andA unless the switch is moved to open the branch tracks B and B, as shownin Fig.2. It is intended that this shall only be accomplished by contactof the projection on the car with the proper projection of theswitch-lever. Hence when a car of the line whose route follows thebranch tracks B B approaches the closed switch of Fig. 1, the projectionN will be brought into position to strike or engage the projection I ofthe switch-lever H, thus throwing the switch to its open position, Fig.2. \Nhen the proj ection N strikes the projection I the switch- ICO ithe plate.

lever moves freely on its pivotnntil the camshaped projection I movesdown the incline a sufficient distance to disengage the projections Iand N. The swinging movement of the switch-lever H is communicated bythe lever-arm K to the bell-cranl M, and the latter turning on its pivotoperates the arm Lto move the switch D to its open position.

While as stated the switch operating projections on the car may bearranged, by any suitable mechanical means, to be adjusted in positionwhen required for the switch moving operation, in many cases it will notbe necessary to make these projections adjustable,

but on the contrary they may be fixed. For instance the-projection maybe located on the car at such a point that it will freely pass allswitch levers on the line, excepting the switch, or switches, it isnecessary for that particular car to operate, and the switch lever canbe provided with a series of projections at each end, and each of theseprojections may be located to engage the projections on cars of acertain line. These details are easily within the control of the mastermechanics of the diiferent intersecting roads as they are of coursefamiliar with the route to be followed by each car, the switches to beopened, or closed, or avoided entirely, and can arrange the switchoperating projections accordingly.

In Figs. 4, 5 and 6, of the drawings I have illustrated my improvedswitch plate and dirt receiver, and will now proceed to describe thesame. The switch-plate F consists of a corrugated metal plate, having aslot between each pair of corrugations, these slots extending preferablythe full length of the corrugations, or nearly so. Instead of acorrugated plate, a series of grate-bars may be employed, but in eithercase, the corrugated plate, and the grate-bars, are secured to the opentop of a metal box or receptacle. When the grate bars are used they willextend across the top of the box and will have open spaces between eachpair of bars, and when the plate is used the corrugations will extendlaterally across In either case, the corrugations or the bars, will havetheir upper edges rounded or beveled. The box or receptacle ispreferably of rectangular form, and is provided with a side-extension F,provided with a removable cover Q, by means of which access can be hadto the receptacle and any accumulation of dirt, stones, snow, ice, &c.,readily removed. The switch D, when in motion moves on the corrugations,or bars, substantially in a direction at right-angles to saidcorrugations or bars, and thus comes in contact only with the narrowupper edges thereof, moving freely thereon and with very littlefriction. It will be seen by this construction that the switch can notget clogged or its-free operation be retarded to any appreciable extentby dirt. snow, ice, stones, 800., as such substances will pass downbetween the grate-bars,or through the slots between the corrugationsvinto the receptacle from which its removal can be readily accomplished.7

While I have described and shown the switch plate in connection with myautomatic switch, it is obvious that it is not restricted to use with aswitch of any'particular construction.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an, automatic switch, a switch lever centrally pivoted at the topof an incline located between the rails, and adapted to be forcedforward and downward by engagement with a suitable projection on thecar, thereby actuating suitable levers to open and close the switch,substantially asdescribed.

2. In an automatic switch, a switch lever centrally pivoted upon anincline located between the rails and provided with projections adaptedto engage projections on the car, thereby actuating suitable levers toopen and close the switch, substantially as described.

3. An automatic switch comprising a pivoted switch rail, a rod extendingfrom said rail to the inner arm of a bell crank lever, a second rodextending from the outer arm of said bell crank to the inner arm of aswitch lever centrally pivoted on an inclined surface, and carryingupwardly extending projections, and means such as the force of a movingcar, for operating said switch mechanism by the engagement ofprojections on the car with the projections of the lever, substantiallyas described.

ALEXANDER R. MILLIKEN. Witnesses:

JACOB D. MERTs, VIRGIL B. VAN WAGNER.

